“Museen für Demokratie” – Basel museums celebrate Day of Democracy
The cultural heritage preserved in museums provides a vital basis for discussing and understanding social issues. It offers unique material for engaging with the past, learning from it and developing solutions for the future.
Museums help to keep democracy alive. With a wide range of special activities, museums in the Basel region will make their own contribution to the International Day of Democracy, which is observed globally on 15 September. Under the motto "Museums for Democracy”, they aim to strengthen social cohesion, foster dialogue and build bridges between the past, present and future.
The museums’ activities will take place between 1 and 30 September, reaching their climax around the said Day of Democracy. On the day itself, the public will be offered guided tours, lectures, a radio broadcast and interventions in digital and public spaces, inviting audiences to experience democracy not just as a form of governance, but as a lived everyday reality.
A study published in 2024 by the Institute for Museum Research Berlin, entitled Das verborgene Kapital (hidden capital), revealed that museums enjoy the highest level of trust after family and friends. This encouraging news serves as a major incentive for museums and heritage institutions to up their efforts to communicate research and curatorial work as transparently as possible.
Activities for the International Day of Democracy
Anatomisches Museum der Universität Basel
Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig
MUKS – Museum Kultur & Spiel Riehen
S AM Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum
Democracy Day
The International Day of Democracy is celebrated every year on 15 September. It was launched by the United Nations at international level in 2007 to reflect on the state of democracy worldwide year by year. Further activities in Switzerland related to Democracy Day can be found on Aktionsplattform, a campaign platform.